The Golden City

The Fourth Realm, Book 3

By: John Twelve Hawks

Narrated by: Scott Brick

Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's summary

A world that exists in the shadow of our own...the thrilling conclusion to John Twelve Hawks's Fourth Realm trilogy, The Golden City is packed with the knife-edge tension, intriguing characters, and startling plot twists that made The Traveler and The Dark River international hits.

John Twelve Hawks's previous novels about the mystical Travelers and the Brethren, their ruthless enemies, generated an extraordinary following around the world.

Internet chat rooms and blogs have overflowed with speculation about the final destiny of the richly imagined characters fighting an epic battle beneath the surface of our modern world.

In The Golden City, Twelve Hawks delivers the climax to his spellbinding epic. Struggling to protect the legacy of his Traveler father, Gabriel faces troubling new questions and relentless threats. His brother Michael, now firmly allied with the enemy, pursues his ambition to wrest power from Nathan Boone, the calculating leader of the Brethren. And Maya, the Harlequin warrior pledged to protect Gabriel at all costs, is forced to make a choice that will change her life forever.

A riveting blend of high-tech thriller and fast-paced adventure, The Golden City will delight Twelve Hawks's many fans and attract a new audience to the entire trilogy.

Listen to the first two books in the Fourth Realm trilogy: The Traveler and The Dark River.

©2009 John Twelve Hawks (P)2009 Random House Audio

The Golden City

Very creative and informative about the workings of the world. The book felt unfinished. Is there another book coming to complete the story? What happened to the brothers, did one or both of them die?

Overall a great book, but ending felt rushed

JTH managed to keep us hanging in there until the end. He didn't disappoint this reader, either, as The Golden City held a couple of surprises and the same roller coaster ride as before with some new twists and turns. However, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and not as thought out as his first two. I wanted a more polished ending, not too much, but not that little. I have to say it left me a bit "huh". But, wow! What a scary bad guy and what a realistic crisis that pulls Californians into submission. Whoa! Whoever you are, John Twelve Hawks, I like your style! Awakening society with fictional writing that parallels what is really going on right now. Is this really your last book? Say it isn't so!

The Golden City

So that was a great 3rd book, but my question is when is the 4th one coming out? I am going to be pissed if that is the last book! You need to have a real ending not one that leads into something else but nothing ever comes!! I really liked the body of the story but the ending was disappointing.

Some truths should be known

In the concluding book of his Fourth Realm series, John re-iterates and further enlightens readers to the truth of the open world we live in. I appreciate that John doesn't pin a global conspiracy on any government, or government agency, but simply points out that when a government, or Google for that matter, aggregates enough information and provides search and index capabilities into that data, it can and will be mis-used. Further, John points out that scare tactics by those who seek dominion are used to persuade populations into relinquishing their freedom (e.g. Patriot Act) to obtain safety. However, those who seek to dominate are the least trustworthy and most dangerous humans of our race. As a cold warrior, I was taught that among other things America was great because we didn't have gulags in Siberia where people snatched from the street were sent without due process. Now America has Guantanamo in Cuba, and who is to say who's in there? If our government collects file cabinets full of information of each citizen, who is to say some foreign power cannot break into the database and manipulate those running for, or those in political office or other positions of great responsibility. We should all ponder how our emotions are being used against us, and perhaps John's next book should be "How to live off the Grid". I was entertained, educated and edified by John's concluding book, and highly recommend it. And of course Scott Brick is among the finest of readers.

Didnt feel like the end of the trilogy

I have been waiting for this book since the second I finished The Dark River. I even called to complain to Audible when it wasn't available the day that the book was published.

All that being said, I wasn't too impressed by The Golden City, Some of the plot points were resolved to easily and it felt jumpy. I even had to verify TWICE that I was listening to the unabridged version.

I wasn't really thrilled with how the book ended. For the FINAL book, I expected things to resolve, but there are a things left hanging out there. I know they can't all be fairy tale endings, but I was left unsatisfied at the end.

I would still recommend the entire series to friends and family.

After taking a few days to think about this book..

....and what I wanted to say....I have to admit that I'm one that doesn't like to go with the flow on writing reviews......but with this book.......I'm sided with the majority of the readers.

The first two books were good and I liked the second one better because I felt that the main characters had finally come into their game and it was fun to watch them choose their paths and what the outcome would be in each case.

As for this book.....everything was just too easy and simple for them......they struggle and fight and fret about each episode in their travels in the earlier books and then during the third book they just slide into home base without any trouble at all....that tells me that the author was just getting by.....finishing up the book to make his commitment to the publisher. This was really a bummer because it made the book a bit blah and dull. I felt the characters all just ran to the finish line with no pit stops to add some very much needed action and then let's end it on a 'it's a beautiful world and all is right with us' type ending.

I'm not sure I feel cheated but I do know I really was expecting much more from this 3rd book....and it just wasn't there....

Last Book! OK

I was really excited to listen to my favorite trilogy and was somewhat dissapointed. the books seemed hurried in some parts, not enough building or layout of the realms for the new readers. ending was up in the air....mabey a 4th book?
didn't keep my interest like the first one.
overall it was enjoyable and I would have read it even if it wasn't good because the fact of the matter is: its John12Hawks, duh!

2nd and 3rd books disappoint

I really liked John Twelve Hawks first book. It was original and pretty exciting. The second and third book fell flat for me. I felt like the author introduced the idea of different realms and than barely explored that plot line.

Too much lecture too little entertainment

Too much lecture on big brother too little entertainment. Particular tieing was the long monologue broadcast from Gabriel. I sure skipped that. It kept me going for a while but at the end I skipped a couple hours.

Not my favorite of the series.

What made the experience of listening to The Golden City the most enjoyable?

I like the characters but some felt awkward in this book.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Hollis was my favorite character. I liked his change to become a Harlequin.

Which character – as performed by Scott Brick – was your favorite?

Hollis, probably. All were good

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Worth listening to as it is the last in the trilogy but didn't measure up to the other two.